Ice and Dragons
by Siren of Lamia
Summary: Sapphire has had a tough life. She was orphaned at birth, her foster mom vanished, and she has no idea who her real parents are. What happens when she finds out she has a twin brother? (Lyon Vastia x OC)
1. Prologue

I was so cold. Everything around me was frozen like ice. Snow gently fell from above me. I was scared and alone with no one there to comfort me. I started to cry, to bawl my eyes out in hopes someone would come rescue me, but no one did. I sat there, crying, helpless in the snow for what seemed like hours, until finally something came, picked me up, and took me away.

I don't know how I remember this day, after all I was so young, but this image has always been implanted on my memory. According to my mother I was only a newborn at that time, maybe one or two days old at most, yet somehow I still have a clear memory of the day she found me alone in that snowbank, with nothing but a blanket with my name embroidered on it.

My mother than took me in and raised me, teaching me everything I needed to know. She taught me to speak and read and right. She taught me proper English and etiquette for the outside world. She taught me how to remain calm and think rationally about everything, and how to come up with strategies. She taught me to survive and to live off the land. She taught me to hunt and how to determine what was and wasn't edible. The most important thing she taught me though was magic. She taught me magic so that I could defend myself when the time called for it, and also taught me to use my power for the good of those around me. She taught me to use each of my five senses to my utmost advantage, and to always remember to look for things out of the ordinary.

She was often very strict and always pushed me incredibly hard, but I knew it was just because she cared. She gave me lessons and trained me from dawn 'till dusk, only giving me breaks for meals. It was because of how hard she pushed me that I was able to become stronger, and I am very grateful to her for that.

I was honestly very happy living with my mother, and I loved her more than I loved anything else. I never wanted anything to change, but sadly all good things must eventually come to an end, and my life with my mother was no exception. My whole world was eventually ripped apart, completely obliterated all in one day. That day was July 7, X777. That was the day I woke up to find Thalassakonta, the water dragon, gone without a trace.

I searched for days trying to find her, but no matter which direction I searched I could find no sign of her. I lived off the land like she had taught; eating mostly roots and berries for weeks. Eventually I stumbled upon a village. It was my first time seeing other human beings, so I became very intrigued. My mother had always taught me about other humans and how they lived together, teaching me about their cultures and their customs, so I decided to go into the village.

When I entered I could smell all the scents of food I had never tried before, and my stomach started to growl. I knew better than to steal food, so I begged on the side of the road for hours, hoping there would be someone kind enough to give me something _good_ to eat. I was just about to give up on finding food when a man came up to me. He was tall and thin, with pure white hair and a wispy beard coming down from his wrinkled face. He asked me my name, and I gave him the one I had known for so long. He asked me about my parents, and I told him they were gone. The man took pity on me and took me in without a second thought, giving me food and clothes and a nice room to sleep in.

I never told anyone I was raised by a dragon for eleven years. I knew they'd probably think I was crazy or that I was making it up, so I kept it and my powers secret from everyone. Eventually the man who took me in offered to teach me his magic, and I knew it would look weird if I declined so I trained with him. He told me that I had great potential, and even that I reminded him of another student he once had, a student he called Ur. He taught me how to make things out of ice and bend them to my will. He called my style a mix of static and active, since I could make stationary objects that could move on their own.

Again I was happy for another five years, training with master and mastering ice-make to the best of my abilities, but then my life changed again. This time it was no great tragedy that changed it. This time it was something that actually made my life better. This time, it was discovering that I have a brother.

I was in this small shop in town when it happened. The shop had just gotten some imports from Fiore, a country south of ours. In the shipment there were large quantities of a magazine titled_Sorcerer Weekly. _I was looking through the magazines when I discovered something incredibly strange. I noticed one mage in a guild called Fairy Tail that was profiled in the magazine. That wasn't the strange part though. The strange part was that the two of us had so much in common: he was from the northern continent like I was, his birth date was the day before the date Thalassakonta found me, and he even had the same last name as me. Upon further inspection he even looked like me. There was no way that it was all coincidence, and I was determined to find out if this boy really was my brother.

The air was hot and the sky was devoid of clouds, things I wasn't used to on the northern continent. I had left my master and my village behind, promising to visit them whenever I could. I was now in Fiore, in a town they called Magnolia. I was here to find the boy I somehow knew was my brother, and so I went off in search of the Fairy Tail guild.

In the long run it wasn't hard to find, it was a rather large building in the center of the town with guild symbols everywhere, so it was obviously the place I was searching for. I went up and knocked on the doors, unsure about if I should really be doing this. The door was soon opened by an incredibly short man in orange and blue clothing. "Hello. May I help you miss?" He asked.

"Maybe. I came here looking for someone I know is a member here." I told him, hoping he knew the answer. I really wanted to find my brother, and I was hoping this man would know him.

"Well come inside then. I'm sure we can find who you're looking for." He then led me inside and pointed towards a bench. I sat down and he asked "Well I am guild master Makarov, so who is it you are looking for?" I told him, and he pointed to the corner of the guild. "He's over there miss. May I ask why you are looking for him?"

I smiled at him. "Let's just say he's an old friend." I said and walked toward the place he pointed to. Once there I saw the same boy I had seen in the magazine I had bout in the shop in the village. I saw the same boy who shared my last name. I saw the same boy that shared my birthday, my dark black hair, and my onyx eyes. He looked up at me as I came over, and my heart started racing. I was worried. Worried he wouldn't believe me. I hardly believed it myself, so why should he?

I stood there for a second and asked "Are you Gray Fullbuster?"

He looked at me strangely, probably wondering how I knew his name. "Yah, what of it? Who are you?" He asked.

"Well, my name is Sapphire Fullbuster, and I think I'm your twin sister."


	2. My Life Starts Now

The boy, who I now knew to be Gray, stared at me in shock. "Look I know that it's hard to believe, but I grew up on the northern continent and I always knew my last name was Fullbuster and so when I looked in an issue of Sorcerers Weekly and saw someone with the same last name as me I kinda figured..." I babbled on, hardly stopping for a breath. "And oh yeah, I forgot to mention we also have the same birthday and we kinda look similar so..."

All of a sudden Gray just stood up and hugged me. It was so sudden and unexpected, but he hugged me. As he pulled away I saw true happiness in his eyes. "You're alive. I can't believe it your alive.

It was my turn to be shocked. "Why wouldn't I be alive? And how do you even know about me? I didn't know you existed until a few days ago!" I was shocked he knew so much about me, yet I had known nothing about him. And if he knew about me then why didn't he come to find me? Didn't he care?

Gray looked at me with onyx eyes filled with joy and happiness. There was no way he hadn't cared enough to not go find me, so why didn't he? "Mom and Dad always told me I had a twin sister who was kidnapped the day after she was born, but they always said she'd probably be dead. I can't believe you're actually alive! I have a twin sister!" He hugged me again, and this time I hugged back. I was so happy to have found my brother after all these years, and even happier that he was happy too.

I joined his guild soon after that. I wanted to be as close to him as possible since I was deprived of the chance to grow up with him. I ended up staying in his spare bedroom since I didn't have any money to pay rent.

The day I had shown up at the guild was only a week from our sixteenth birthday, so I decided I'd tell him my secrets then. I found out that there was another dragon slayer at Fairy Tail, so I knew that they would believe me. Gray and I made an agreement to tell each other everything about our pasts on our birthday, since we both wanted to get to know each other first.

The week spent with my brother was the best week of my life. The guild was crazy and wild, but I loved it there. Natsu was kind of annoying, and I could see why he and my brother didn't get along. Me and Gray even planned to team and do a few jobs together after our birthday passed. I actually made quite a few friends in the guild, since I could stand Cana's drunkenness and Mira was nice to everyone. I even got along with Erza since her no-nonsense attitude kind of reminded me of Thalssakonta. Those three became my best friends in the guild that week. The guild had become my third home, and I loved it.

Ω

The week passed quickly. Our birthday came in a flash, and after getting to know my brother I couldn't wait to tell him everything. He was a good person and I could tell I would be able to trust him. I wanted to spill my guts, to open up and tell him everything there was to know about me, but I knew I had to wait until today.

I woke up that morning, excited to tell him my story. I rushed out of bed and put my clothes on, wanting to start another great day in Magnolia. When I was dressed I quickly ran out of the spare bedroom and into the kitchen. Gray wasn't awake yet so I decided to make him a special birthday breakfast. I got out the groceries I had bought the other day and started cooking up some of my famous pancakes and a little bacon to go with them. It didn't take me very long to cook, and within ten minutes there was a delicious sweet smell wafting through the air. I was almost finished cooking and was so into what I was doing that I didn't even notice when Gray walked in.

"Something smells good." He said, startling me so much I threw the pancake I was flipping up into the air. I heard a loud splat and saw that the half-cooked cake was stuck to the ceiling. I felt my cheeks go bright red as Gray started laughing so hard I swear you could hear him a mile away. I started shouting something about not starting me when I was near a hot stove, but he just kept laughing harder and harder. Pretty soon I was laughing too, and we both just stood there laughing our heads off for what seemed like hours.

Eventually we stopped and sat down for breakfast, and as we were eating we talked and laughed and had a great time. I really liked my brother, and even though we had only known each other for a week it felt like I had known him all my life. He was so easy to talk to, just like a good brother should be.

After breakfast we sat down on the couch and prepared ourselves to tell each other everything. Gray insisted on going first, so I sat there and listened to what he had to say. He told me about how he grew up with our parents for so many years, and that his life in the village was pretty great. I started feeling really jealous of his calm, normal life, well at least until he told me about Deliora. He told me how that beast destroyed the village, killed our parents, and ruined his entire life. He then told me about training with an ice make master named Ur and her other pupil, Lyon. I knew I somehow recognized the name Ur, but I didn't remember where I had heard it at the time. He then told me about how Ur used iced shell to seal away Deliora and how Lyon got so angry and ran off, never to be seen again.

Then he started on how he went to Fiore to try and find a way to bring his master back. He went to Fairy Tail because he had heard it was the strongest guild in Fiore, but he was never able to revive his master. He joined the guild after that, and even though the guild was crazy and wild he still was able to live a happy life.

I was astounded by his story. I couldn't believe he had the guts to tell me all of this, especially the part about his master. I was so glad he told me, it told me that he really trusted me, and that I could trust him as well. If I had any doubts about telling him my story, they were gone now. I started to tell him everything.

"Well, okay, so here it is. I was found on the side of the road when I was only a day or two old. The woman who found me took me in and raised me as her own, teaching me everything. Her name was Thalassakonta, and she was strong and kind and maybe a little strict, but she cared. She even taught me magic. She raised me for eleven years, but one morning I woke up and discovered that she disappeared. I searched for her for days, but I never saw her again. Then eventually I stumbled into a little town, and a man there took me in. He was kind and always smiling, but for some reason I never told him about my past. Eventually he offered to teach me even more magic, so I agreed. He actually taught me ice make magic, just like Ur taught you Gray. Then about a month ago I was in the village and found a magazine with interviews of people from the Fairy Tail guild. I saw someone who had my last name and a birthdate that was only a day before Thalassakonta found me, so I went out to find him, and that's how I wound up here." I took a breath, tired from my long speech. My eyes had even started watering as I thought of my foster mother, just like Gray's had when he remembered our parents and Ur.

Gray stared at me for a while, a little stunned at my story. Eventually he was able to speak again and said "Wow. I do have a few questions though. Do you mind if I ask them?"

I smiled at my brother. "No, of course not. Ask away."

"Well for starters, how did you know your name? I mean, you said you recognized me because of my last name, but how did you even know it?"

"Well, when I was found, I was wrapped in a baby blanket that had the name _Sapphire Fullbuster _written in it. Any other questions?"

"Yah, I have one more. What kind of magic did Thalassakonta teach you? You never said."

I recoiled at this particular question. I know it was stupid, but I was really afraid to tell Gray I was a dragon slayer. I had never told anyone before, not even master. I also knew that Natsu was a dragon slayer, and gray hated Natsu, so what if he hated me? I finally got up the courage to say "Well, she taught me a rare form of magic." I paused, and Gray looked at me, his eyes encouraging me to go on. "Well, Thalassakonta wasn't exactly a normal person." I paused again, and Gray looked a little confused by my statement. "Gray, I need to tell you something I have never told anyone before." I said, finally gaining the courage to speak. "She taught me water magic, but not average water magic. Thalassakonta was a water dragon Gray, which makes me a water dragon slayer."

This time he almost fainted out of shock. I had never in my entire life look that shocked, and actually still haven't to this day. "Y-you're a. _dragon slayer!?_" He half-asked half-screamed. I nodded, scared by his reaction. "Like fire breath!"

"Yes, except he's a fire dragon slayer and I'm a water dragon slayer. We're both very different. Please don't be mad at me for not telling you sooner Gray!" I said, worried by how he was reacting. What if he really does hate me as much as Natsu now?

I was about to say something else when Gray surprised me with another of his unexpected hugs. "Why would I be mad? You've never told anyone you're a dragon slayer, so it must have been hard for you. Besides, this just means my sister is probably just as strong if not stronger than the guy I hate! If anything I'm kind of excited. I bet you can even kick that pyro's ass!"

I laughed at him, so happy that my brother could accept me for who I am. I was so lucky that Gray was my brother, and I loved that he was so understanding. I hugged him back, loving having a brother.


	3. Galuna Island

~Two Year Time Skip~

Now that you know how my brother and I met I'm going to continue on to when my story really picks up. It all started when Gray and I were eighteen. It hadn't been that long since a girl named Lucy had joined our guild, and we had just gotten back from saving all the guild masters from a giant monster called Lullaby. I know that sounds pretty interesting, but it really has nothing to do with this story so I'll just push it aside for now.

It had been almost a week since we had gotten back from that mission and we had all gone back to our normal lives, which also meant Natsu had gone back to causing trouble. Now he had dragged Lucy along with him on a stolen S-Class quest to remove the curse on an island called Galuna. Gray had volunteered to go find them, and of course I decided to go along with him.

We had arrived at Hargeon Town and found those two idiots, but they had knocked us both unconscious and tied us up. They then dragged us on the boat and forced us to come along, and eventually the guy steering the boat disappeared and the boat was caught up in a wave.

The next thing I knew I was waking up in the sand on a beach. I sat up and immediately realized that by some miracle we had all washed up on shore. I looked around and saw my brother as well as Lucy and Natsu were all still unconscious, so I got up and tried searching for the boat so we could take those idiots back to the guild so we wouldn't get in trouble with Erza. I wasn't planning on getting punished just because Natsu was an idiot.

After about five minutes I found the boat, or at least what was left of it. I saw the big pile of boards and nails that used to be our boat scattered all along the beach. I then went back to where the others were and saw that they had all woken up. Gray was saying something about how the guild would be boring without Natsu and Lucy in it when I came up.

He turned around and when he saw the angered look on my face he took me aside and talked to me. "Look sis it's not like there's much we can do. Unless we can find a boat off this island than we're stuck here anyway, so why not try and help them out? It's not like they could do this on their own anyway."

I stared at him for a while. The boy had a point, we were stuck out here, but I didn't want to have to face the wrath of Erza because Natsu was an idiot. Finally I knew I had to give in. "Fine. But if Erza shows up looking for us we're telling her that these two knocked us out and now we can't get off the island. Alright?" He nodded his head in agreement and we headed toward the village.

It took us hours to reach the village so it was already dark by time we got there. They made us show our guild marks at the gate before finally showing us inside. Once we were finally in we saw a bunch of cloaked figures. When the villagers ripped off all their cloaks they were horribly disfigured underneath them. It was a little unsettling to say the least, and it definitely made me see why these villagers were so desperate to have this job completed. Eventually I looked up and saw some clouds moving overhead, and behind them there was a purple moon. As soon as the purple moonlight hit the villagers their whole bodies became monstrous. It was still very creepy and in the end I felt pretty bad for those villagers.

Eventually the chief told us he wanted us to destroy the moon, a task which all of our group except Natsu and Happy knew was impossible. We then headed to get some sleep, but I stayed awake, staring out at the purple moon. I had gotten this weird feeling as soon as I entered the island. I had no idea why or what this feeling was, but somehow I knew that something special would happen on this island. I somehow knew that there was something I needed to see and something I needed to do here, though I was unsure of what it was.

The next morning we headed out early. We started hiking through the woods looking for clues, and after a smelly encounter with a giant rat we ran into a nearby temple. The building was old and worn down and had moon designs all over the walls. The floor was unsteady, and after that idiot Natsu stomped on it a few times it caved in, dropping us onto the floor of a chasm down below. We walked through some passageways for a while but what we found at the end of one took my breath away.

At the end of the passage there was a gigantic block of ice, and inside it there was a ginormous ugly beast. I immediately recognized it as the monster Gray had described to me all those years ago, the one that had killed both his master and our parents.

"Deliora." Both me and Gray mumbled simultaneously. Gray started walking toward the beast. "That's impossible. It's Deliora. How? How is it here?!" he screamed, and I fell to the ground in shock. I know that in the background the others were talking, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too stunned. This was the monster that took away my parents. If it weren't for him, maybe I would have found my home village and gotten to meet them. Maybe, just maybe, I could have gotten to live a happy life with them and Gray on the northern continent, but this beast had taken any chance of that happening and completely obliterated it.

Eventually I heard footsteps from behind me and hid behind some rubble, but I was still shocked. How did this monster get here? From what Gray had told me it should have been back up north, but now it was here in Fiore. How? The people who had walked in started talking about someone they called "The Cold Emperor" and about how he wouldn't be pleased if he found out that there were intruders. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I knew that I didn't like the sound of this "Cold Emperor" guy. As soon as they left Gray started telling them the same story he had told me two years ago, and I could tell it was hard for him. Eventually he got so angry he started using his magic, and I went over to try and comfort him. It was hard, but eventually I got him to calm down.

I sat next to Gray the rest of the day and was able to comfort him, and even when Lucy called out a Celestial Spirit to sing a song that made Gray cry, I was still able to help him through it a little. Hours later we were still sitting there and the other three were asleep, but somehow Gray and I had managed to keep our eyes open. This was hard for the both of us, after all this was the monster that had killed our parents years ago. I had never personally seen the amounts of destruction Deliora could do, but from the stories my brother told I wouldn't want to. This beast was completely and totally evil, and we needed to face that fact.

I just sat there, completely lost in thought, when all of a sudden purple light started coming down from the ceiling. It startled me, and we woke the others so we could go investigate. We climbed back up to the top of the temple, and once there we saw something strange. We saw a group of people dressed in strange outfits and hats that covered their faces all chanting around a huge, purple magic circle. Lucy's Celestial Spirit, who for some reason was still there, started explaining that these people were performing moon drip, a spell that could break any other spell.

Soon after we saw the people from earlier show up, accompanied by a tall person wearing some sort of strange helmet. They started talking about how there were intruders that they couldn't catch, and that they might be from the village. What the guy in the helmet said next however, surprised and terrified me. "Then destroy the village." He said this completely calmly, as if it were no big deal. I knew I couldn't let this strange guy destroy the village, and I looked to my brother to confirm this, but something was off.

He was staring at the guy, mumbling "That voice. No it can't be." I was even more confused by this and was about to ask him about it when that idiot Natsu got up and yelled "We're the intruders you're after!" and spat fire into the air.

The girl then said she recognized Natsu's guild mark and that we were from Fairy Tail, and the eyebrow guy also that the villagers must have gone to magical guilds for help. "Don't worry about them. Go eradicate the village." The masked man said, and after something about anyone who gets in his way is his enemy.

After hearing this Natsu started to charge forward, but my brother beat him to it. "Why you." Gray said, his hands starting to glow with magic. "Stop this crazy ceremony right now!" He yelled, making iced spikes appear in front of him. The other guy jumped back and created ice himself, which intercepted the ones made by my brother. I then realized what was happening. I walked a step back. No, it couldn't be. "Lyon." Me and my brother said at once, confirming my suspicions. This was the boy Gray had trained with all those years ago. "How could you!? Do you have any idea what you're doing!?" My brother said furiously.

Lyon remained calm and said "Oh Gray, it's been quite a while hasn't it?"

Gray stayed just as angry at Lyon and responded "Why would you revive Deliora?"

You couldn't see it, but I have a feeling Lyon was actually grinning evilly under that mask. "To think that you were one of the wizards called to this island to help those poor villagers. Did you come knowing you would find me, or is this just mere coincidence? Not that it makes any difference to me." He said coolly.

"Acquaintance of yours, Cold Emperor?" Eyebrow guy said from behind him and dog boy growled.

"Do as you were ordered." Lyon said. "I can handle the intruders on my own." The three that were behind him all said "Yes sir" and ran off to go destroy the village. Natsu started to run after them despite Gray warning him not to go near Lyon, and ended up frozen in a block of ice.

"Happy, get Lucy out of here. Sapphire, get away!" Happy started to fly Lucy away despite her protests, but I refused to leave.

"No Gray, I'm staying with you." I said. "I think I can handle another ice wizard."

Gray looked at me with fear in his eyes. "Please, just go! We don't have time for this right now!" he yelled.

I looked back with fiery determination in my eyes. "No Gray, I refuse to abandon my family! We fight together!" I ran up and stood beside him, ignoring his warnings.

"Family?" Lyon asked. "Do you call all your guild mates family?" Lyon asked, a little confusion in his voice.

I stared back at him confidently. "Of course, but with Gray I really mean it. He is my brother after all."

Lyon looked over at Gray. "I thought you said that your entire family was killed by Deliora? Oh well, it doesn't matter to me if you are Gray's family, I'll crush you both anyway. And you may have distracted me long enough for the girl and the cat to escape, which was chivalrous but ultimately pointless. There's no way those two can stop my minions."

Out of nowhere Natsu decided to join our little conversation. "Don't underestimate the power of Fairy Tail wizards." He says, getting angry, but Gray pushes him a little and he rolls down the hill.

I look over at my brother. "Smart." I say, and I mean it. We both know Lyon could blow up that ice as well as Natsu if he had remained here. Lyon and Gray then have a little back and forth fight and eventually Lyon removed his helmet. I looked at his face, and I felt a strange sensation in my gut. Underneath the mask, Lyon was hot. I know I shouldn't say that about the boy I'm about to fight, but it was true. He was hot, and there was a small part of me that didn't want to hurt him...


	4. Lyon

I shook those thoughts away. I couldn't let myself think like that now. This boy was about to unleash a powerful and destructive demon upon an unsuspecting village, and I couldn't let that happen.

Lyon then said something about how this would be just like old times, except he had grown stronger since then. "And I have definitely grown strong enough to defeat the both of you." He said. "Ice make eagle!"

All of a sudden a flock of ice eagles flew at my brother. He tried to put up a shield, but the eagles just flew around it. Soon some more eagles came at me, but when I created my shield it was able to move to deflect the birds from any direction. "Ah, I see I'm not the only active ice-make user here after all. Though how your sister came to know the same magic as us I don't know, but it doesn't really matter. I can beat two ice make mages just as easily as I can one." He said cockily.

I smiled back at him. "But I'm not only an ice make mage." I said, confusing him. "Water dragon's roar!" All of a sudden an incredibly powerful stream of water came out of my mouth and went straight towards Lyon.

"Ice make shield!" Lyon said, and my water slid off it, leaving Lyon unharmed.

"Ice make hammer!" Gray yelled, but again Lyon was ready for an attack.

"Ice make ape!" and a giant animal leaped out of the ground, smashing my brother's ice to pieces.

I walked closer to my brother and started whispering in his ear. "You send lots of attacks at him to distract him while I sneak up behind and finish him." He nodded and started throwing random attacks at Lyon, but none were able to get within five feet of him. Lyon's attacks on the other hand were pretty much kicking my brother's ass.

I snuck around, making sure to be extra quiet as I did so. I had gotten all the way around Lyon, and was about to hit him with a water dragon's iron fist, but then something strange happened. I knew the temple was old and unstable, but I didn't quite realize the extent of the wall's weakness until the ground started rumbling beneath me. A large crack appeared in the floor, and within a few seconds, a gaping chasm opened up beneath me. It was at least ten feet wide in radius. I fell through, landing in a pile of rubble fifteen feet below.

* * *

I woke up to a pounding  
in my head. I groaned and sat up, accidentally pushing a few rocks out of my way in the process. I looked around and realized I didn't know where I was. Oh wait, now I remember. I fell through the floor and got knocked out. Right.

I looked around, hoping to see my brother somewhere, but instead I saw someone slightly less pleasant. Lyon was lying in the rubble, unconscious. Oh great. Now I have to deal with the psychopath who's trying to revive the monster who had killed both of my birth parents and destroyed my home town. Perfect. I walked around, searching for a way out though all the rubble, but found none. I could have ice made some stairs, but I couldn't just leave Lyon unconscious. I know that currently the boy was my enemy, but he was still human. He still had a life ahead of him, and if I left him here to die he wouldn't have that anymore.

I pulled him out from under the rubble, and luckily he didn't have any major injuries, just a few cuts and bruises. I iced up one particularly bad cut on his arm, but that was really all I needed to do. I then sat on a pile of rubble for a while, just thinking about this whole mess. When Erza showed up, which I knew she would, she'd probably end up punishing us no matter what we said, and now I was stuck babysitting my brother's childhood friend. It was official: I had the weirdest life ever.

All of a sudden I heard a groan from Lyon's direction. I turned around and saw his eyes flutter open. "Good morning sleeping beauty." I said just to annoy him. "Have a nice nap?"

He looked up at me. "What the hec are you doing here?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

I looked back at him. "You were buried under some rubble. I just stayed around to make sure you weren't dead. You're not dead are you?" I said jokingly.

He looked a little weirded out by this statement but answered back anyway. "No, I seriously don't think I'm dead."

I smiled. "Well then my job here is done." I said and started to leave, knowing I should probably try and find Gray and the rest of our group.  
"Wait." I heard him say. Well that was unexpected. I turned around and saw him looking at me strangely. "Are you really Gray's sister?

Ah. So that was it. Now it makes sense. "Yah. I'm Sapphire Fullbuster, Gray's twin sister. And you are Lyon Vastia, a boy who used to train under the same master Gray did, who is now trying to revive the very monster that killed my parents and ruined my brother's life. You know maybe I should just deal with you here and now so I don't have to take care of you later. If I didn't have to go find my brother and Lucy and make sure that fire breathing idiot is okay I would." I again turned to go, but again he stopped me.

"I see you know very much about me yet I know next to nothing about you. How were you able to learn ice-make? Did Gray teach you?"

I looked at him, getting angry again. "And why should I tell my entire life story to someone who is trying to bring a demon that killed my family back to life?" I asked bluntly.

He smirked. "Well you apparently already know my life story, so it's only fair I know yours, or at least where you learned ice make."

He was curious. I could see it in his eyes. He was desperate to know where I learned my magic from. I decided to use this to my advantage. "Well I you stop trying to resurrect Deliora than maybe I'll tell you." I know it was a long-shot, but it couldn't hurt right?

His face went blank. "I can't do that. I need to do this. Gray, Deliora… They both destroyed my dream. I wanted to surpass Ur, but now the only way I can do that is to defeat the one monster she couldn't. I can't give up now, not when I'm so close…" He started to drift off into space, forgetting I was there.

I scowled. "That's what all this is about! _That's _your big reason to revive a killing machine? You just want to prove you're strong!? Stop acting like a spoiled child Lyon and wake up! There are other ways to prove how strong you are, ones that don't have serious repercussions if you fail! Have you even once stopped to consider the consequences if you fail!? You're bringing a monster who has killed countless before and would have no problems killing countless more back to life just so you can fulfill your childhood fantasy? Are you an IDIOT!?" I yelled furiously. His reasoning was so childish and stupid I couldn't believe it. He was the world's biggest idiot.

As soon as I had finished his face was alight with rage. "That will NEVER happen, alright? I will defeat Deliora. It is my destiny!" he yelled at me, as if he was ready to rip my head off.

I stared back at him, my gaze unwavering. "Well what if you can't!? You have to consider **all** of the possibilities! If there's even the slightest chance you'll get defeated and unleash an unholy terror on the world you shouldn't do it! Have you even stopped to consider how many thousands of people could die just because you want to prove you're strong?" He looked a little less confident now, and I could tell that what I was saying had an effect on him. "Well I'm leaving now, and if you do decide to unleash Deliora than me and my friends will stop you, you can count on that." I than turned and made a hoverboard out of ice (which is one of my favorite techniques) and flew away from the white haired boy.

I had to admit, for the first part of that conversation he didn't seem like that bad of a guy. He took my teasing well and, if situations were different, I think we could have actually become friends. I knew I might have to someday defeat him, or at least one of my friends will, and the thought made me a little uncomfortable. He wasn't evil, he was just confused.

I immediately shook these thoughts from my head. I couldn't let myself get distracted like that. He was trying to revive Deliora, the beast that had killed most of my family. I couldn't be fooled by what was obviously an attempt to trick me.

So why do I still feel so reluctant to hurt him?


	5. Gray Vs Lyon

I flew down toward the village, but what I saw surprised me. It had completely disappeared. All that stood in the little clearing where the village had originally stood was a ginormous dent in the ground. I flew over, hoping that everyone had gotten out alright. Eventually I stumbled upon a camp, and I lowered myself down.

I looked around and saw all the villagers, but my friends were nowhere in sight. Eventually one came up to me. "You're Sapphire, right?" She asked. I nodded and she pointed to a large tent. "Well there are some people in there who want to see you." I thanked her and ran toward the tent, hoping to see my brother, but I was met with yet another familiar face, but not one that looked happy to see me.

Erza stood there, holding on to ropes that had both Lucy and Happy tied up. "Sapphire…" Erza started angrily, but I interrupted her.

"Oh thank God you're here Erza! We tried bringing these two back, but they were able to knock us out and then they dragged us here! Then our boat crashed, and we tried find a way off this island, but we couldn't so we were forced to stay here! Please tell me you have a boat!" Luckily I had always been good a t convincing people of things, and I hoped Erza would believe my story.

She looked a little surprised, but then se smiled. "Of course I brought a boat. I guess now we can bring these two home, and though you and Gray may receive a small punishment for failing in your duties, it will not be as severe as the punishment these two idiots and Natsu will receive." I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn't have to deal with a very big punishment. "Speaking of, you don't by any chance know Natsu's current location, do you?"

I shook my head no, and Erza sighed. She was about to say something else when my brother came charging in, covered in bandages. He took one look at Erza and immediately grew scared, but I shot him a reassuring glance to tell him we were _almost_ in the clear. We then started discussing Natsu's possible whereabouts, but I was only half paying attention.

Instead I couldn't stop thinking about Lyon. I couldn't help but wonder why he had tried to talk to me before. I had fought him alongside my brother, but he still decided to talk to me normally. Was it because I sat there and waited to make sure he would wake up? Did he think that because I hadn't killed him in his sleep that he could trust me? Or was it something else? To me it seemed as though he was trying to prove that he was a normal human being, something you wouldn't expect from a psychopath trying to revive a giant killing machine. What could he gain from this? Did he really expect to gain my trust that easily?

I couldn't help but consider the other possibility as well: Maybe he really _was _a nice person. Maybe he was just a confused boy who believed he had to relentlessly pursue a childhood dream. Maybe it was his way of keeping his old master's memory alive, and maybe he even wanted to avenge her. Maybe it was also his way of taking his anger with Gray out on something that he believed my brother had caused. I tried to push these feelings aside, I couldn't afford to put my trust in this boy, but I couldn't help it. My gut kept telling me that it was true.

I was eventually shaken from my thoughts when Erza said "Well as soon as we find Natsu we shall leave the island."

I looked at her, and knew that we couldn't afford to leave these villagers alone. I knew that if we left, we'd shatter all of their hopes at being returned to normal. I knew that Fairy Tail could never quit on something it had started, not just for our reputation but also because we had to help everyone who needed it. We had to.

I gathered up every ounce of courage I could muster and said "No Erza, I can't leave now, or at least, not until we help these poor people." Everyone in the room stared at me in shock, and even the mighty Erza looked surprised. She soon got an angry look on her face, as if trying to tell me to back down, but I knew I had to say this. "If we leave now, we will crush the hopes of all of these villagers, and Deliora will be unleashed upon the world. I may not have been in the guild for as long as you and Gray have, but if there's one thing I've learned about the guild in my time there it's that Fairy Tail wizards don't give up. They stick it out and push through until they get the job done, just so they can help the people that need it. I'm not going to break that tradition now." I looked Erza straight in the eyes as I said this, and she looked a little stunned. I kept staring, letting her know I was **not** going to back down, and eventually she answered.

"Alright. We will continue to help the villagers, but only as long as we don't accept the reward money. It wouldn't be right." Lucy groaned at this, but was immediately given Erza's death glare, and she gave in. I was happy Erza was letting us stay, because that also meant I had a little more time to figure Lyon out.

I didn't know what it was, but something about him made me want to know every little thing there was to know about him. For some strange reason he intrigued me, but I couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was just the fact that figuring him out was proving to be a challenge. Maybe I didn't like not being able to read people. Yah, that had to be it.

We then headed toward the temple, knowing that that was probably where Natsu was. Knowing him he was probably getting ready to challenge Lyon or one of his minions to a one-on-one fight as we speak.

We had found the temple, but we were surprised to see the state it was currently in. It had been knocked sideways. I immediately knew it was Natsu's doing, and for once I had to commend him on his cleverness. He had finally found a way to make his destructive tendencies useful.

We eventually ran into some of Lyon's minions, and Erza and Lucy stayed behind to fight them. My brother and I ran on ahead, hoping to reach Lyon before Natsu went back to his usual stupid ways and did something we'd all regret later. We ran in, searching for Lyon. Eventually we ran into a fork in the road, and Gray took the right while I took the left. I knew we had to stop Lyon, but I also knew that this wouldn't stop there. Even without their leader the minions would probably be dumb enough to revive Deliora. I knew we'd probably end up having to destroy the beast no matter what happened.

I ran for quite a while, but soon enough I heard load screams coming from the other side of the temple. My brother had found Lyon. I ran towards the sound, luckily discovering a passage that lead almost straight towards the location of the screams.

I was almost there when I heard a voice that I recognized as Lyon's saying "You wouldn't! You're not brave enough to give your life!"

I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I felt an icy presence around the area, and knew right away what my brother was up to. He was about to preform Iced Shell. I ran into the room and saw my brother standing in the proper formation, and my suspicions were confirmed. I also saw Natsu standing aside, doing nothing. I made a mental note to yell at him for this later, but for now my focus was on saving my brother from making the biggest mistake of his life.

I charged forward, hurling my body at my brother's to stop him. It took a lot of force to break the barrier formed by the spell, but I broke through it and sent my brother flying across the room. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" I yelled furiously. "Were you really willing to sacrifice your own life for this!? Did you really think I'd let you! Did you forget you're my last REAL living relative!? Did you ever once think about how this would make ME feel, not to mention the rest of the guild!?" I was hurt that even my own brother didn't realize that I'd be devastated if he died. Did he really not care about how this would make the rest of his friends feel?

"Sapphire…" He said, surprised at my sudden appearance.

"No Gray, nothing you can say can make up for what you almost did! Ur preformed this spell all those years ago to save your life, do you really think she'd want you to throw it all away now!? Do you really think that's what she'd want?" I then turned to face Lyon. "And you aren't much better. You really want to destroy your master's legacy!? She gave her life trying to seal that monster away, and now you want to defile her memory just to prove how powerful you've become? Are you some kind of sick freak!?"

For once, both my brother and Lyon were speechless. They couldn't believe I had the nerve to charge in and say those kinds of things. I just stared them down, showing that I had meant every single one of the words I had said. These two were both a bunch of idiots, and they both needed to wake up from their childhood fantasies.

I then calmed down a little and turned to my brother. "Besides don't you realize that all you'd be doing by casting Iced Shell here and now would be committing suicide? We are in the very temple being used to break an Iced Shell curse on a monster who is covered in much more ice than it'd take to freeze Lyon. All his minions would just cast Moon Drip on him, and he'd go right back to reviving Deliora. I'll bet that's why he didn't try very hard to stop you in the first place!" This time my brother just had an 'oh crap you're right' face on. I couldn't believe how oblivious to the truth my brother could be sometimes. In this way he was exactly like Natsu, but he'd kill me if he heard me say that.

I could practically feel Lyon smirking behind me. "Well aren't you a clever one?" He asked snidely. "You should listen to your sister more often Gray, then maybe you'd learn to not do such stupid and irrational things."

That was it, this boy had snapped my last nerve. "Listen here, no one, and I mean NO ONE insults my brother but me!" I then got in a fighting stance, but all of a sudden I felt the ground shake beneath me. It started to tilt, and I immediately knew that somehow, someone was fixing the temple. Soon a weird guy in a mask walked in, and I assumed it had been him who had righted the temple's position.

Then a weird short guy on a mask showed up, and I soon realized that it must have been him who had corrected the temple. I didn't know how he did it, but I knew it was him. Then I smelled it. This guy didn't s smell like a _guy _at all. He wreaked of women's perfume, and not the cheap store-brand kind. I'm talking full on expensive brand name perfume. I knew this "guy" was either some creeper who liked wearing women's perfume, or he actually wasn't a guy. I was willing to bet anything that that creeper was a girl.

The guy then confirmed that he was the one who had fixed the temple, and Natsu got angry and charged after him. Lyon then smirked again and said "My my, what a boisterous pair you are."

God this guy ticked me off. Every word that came out of his mouth just infuriated me more. "Oh shut up Lyon! I can't take any more of your pathetic squabbling!" I then was about to fight him, but I was again interrupted, this time by my brother.

"That' enough." He said. "Just forget about Deliora." Great. What was he up to now?

Lyon then grew surprised, and maybe also slightly angry at my brother. "What kind of nonsense is this? Your threats don't work so you turn to begging? Does your guild have a dentist that removes your fangs, or are you just a coward?"

Gray then calmly started to explain. "Lyon there's soothing I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Lyon said in a tone I can only describe as a growl.

"Ur is still alive." My brother then went on to explain how iced shell worked, but I knew that Lyon most likely already knew the truth. As much as I hated to admit it, Lyon was actually pretty smart, and was definitely smart enough to do research on Iced Shell before attempting something like this. If he was doing this spell anyway, then it was for one of two reasons. He either secretly hoped that he would be able to bring Ur back from this, which is the more unlikely of the two scenarios, or he didn't believe that Ur was actually still alive. I'd place my bets on the second option.

Gray eventually ended his speech, but instead of the reaction he was probably expecting, Lyon attacked him. Gray stumbled to the ground, and Lyon said "You idiot, I know how the spell works." I knew it. "I can assure you she' not alive anymore. That's nothing more than a chunk of ice!"

That was it. I charged at him, my brother stunned and struggling on the ground. "Ice Make sword!" I yelled, unleashing a blast of light and forming my sword. It swung straight towards Lyon, knocking him down.

Gray started fuming, getting angrier and angrier at his childhood companion. He got up and punched Lyon so hard he flew into the wall, shattering some of the ice.

"Impossible! How can you move with that wound!?" Lyon yelled.

"I've had enough!" Gray shouted furiously. "I wanted to save you, but I give up now."

"You want the title of star pupil all to yourself? Well I'm sorry, I have to fight against Deliora soon, and I'd rather not waste my magic energy on you." Lyon said, regaining his cocky and overconfident attitude.

"Then we'll just use our fists! Sapphire I'd appreciate it if you let me handle him on my own."

I smiled, I could tell this was important to him, and I decided to step aside. "Fine, but if we ever get a chance to beat him up again, I'd like the honors if you don't mind." He smiled back at me, and then charged straight at Lyon. Lyon managed to hit Gray's wound, and I again had to compliment him. This boy was actually pretty smart. That of course doesn't mean I wasn't mad at him for hurting my brother. Gray then tried to punch back, but Lyon quickly jumped out of his way, proving he was also incredibly agile.

I know it seems like all I'm doing her is complimenting the enemy, but I enjoy analyzing an opponent's strategies, hoping to find holes in their fighting styles and deducing their weaknesses. I guess you could say it was a hobby of mine.

Lyon then shot a flurry of punches and kicks at my brother, knocking him back a bit. Gray then tried to punch him, but Lyon kicked him back into the wall. He got up, but was slammed back into another wall. Gray got up again, and this time when they charged at each other my brother sent Lyon flying. Lyon then came back with another few punches, but Gray kept going strong. It soon turned into a back and forth punching fest, but eventually my brother body slammed Lyon and sent him hurtling towards the ground.

Lyon got up, but just barely. "The Cold Emperor… Defeated in battle by the likes of you… I won't stand for it! Ice make Snow Dragon!" Lyon said, and a giant serpent-like creature attacked.

Gray got up, telling Lyon how the second you underestimate Natsu is the second you lose, but soon the temple started to shake.

"The ceremony is finally reaching completion." Lyon said, sounding a little excited by this information. "The ice sealing Deliora has begun to melt away. There's nothing you can do, it's too late to stop me." The air around him started to glow as he spoke. "You and your friends have failed! Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment Gray? Since I saw you last I've been gathering knowledge, and allies who will aid me. I was fortunate enough to discover this place, an island where you could collect the light of the moon, Galuna." He finally unleashed the energy he had been building up, sending arrow-shaped shafts of ice at us. We dodged, and Lyon continued his speech. "It wasn't an easy task transporting Deliora, and the Moon Drip's taken three years!"

Gray put up a shield, and Lyon had become much sloppier, since all of his arrows just shattered against it. "You've been wasting time on this stupid plan for three years!?" Gray shouted angrily, clearly furious with the white haired boy in front of him.

"Stupid!? How dare you say that! You've spent the last ten years in some foolish guild peddling your life away!" Lyon became absolutely enraged, sending another ice shaft hurtling straight at my brother.

He dodged and started yelling back "Because I put my faith in what Ur told me! Ur told me before she died that there were plenty of wizards stronger than her in the west. So I went west, and eventually made it to Fairy Tail. And she was right the guild was so full with powerful wizards I couldn't believe it. I asked the master to melt the ice, but he told me that doing it would be the same as killing Ur. I didn't know it at the time, but I bet the old man was thinking about the Moon Drip when he said that. After everything Ur did for us you'd kill her without giving it a second thought. You make me sick!"

"Say what you will, I don't care. My entire life has led up to this moment, our master is long dead, if we want to prove that we have surpassed her what can we do in her absence!? Think Gray, There's only one answer! Deliora! I will surpass our master by defeating what she could not!" He attacked my brother again and again, punching at him with his ice-covered fist, but my brother wouldn't let him land another blow.

"I admit that's a pretty ambitious plan, but I can't stop thinking that you might have missed the point somewhere along the way!" My brother smashed Lyon's ice glove. "Someone as blind as you could never be better than Ur! Not in a hundred years! Wake up Lyon!" Gray slashed an ice sword at Lyon, but it turned out to be nothing but an ice decoy.

"Fooled you didn't I? Ice make snow tiger!" A ginormous animal leaped toward my brother, but Gray jumped out of the way in the last second and captured the beast inside a giant cage.

"You see this Lyon? This is what you are. A beast in a cage slashing out at a world he barely knows."

What utter nonsense! I'll make quick work of that spell of yours!" Lyon tried to force the animal out of the cage, but found he was unable to break through.

Gray then explained that single handed spell casting was too unbalanced, and made an ice cannon that blew a hole in the temple wall, defeating Lyon once and for all.

Gray then sealed up and old wound, and I ran up and hugged him, congratulating him, but our happiness didn't last long. Soon we heard a giant bellowing roar, and I immediately knew that we might just be too late. Deliora was being freed as we spoke.


	6. Realizations and a Demon

We then charged down to the chamber that concealed Deliora, hoping that we were wrong. Hoping that by some miracle that noise would turn out to be Natsu or something else. Anything but Deliora.

We soon arrived in the cave, only to find our suspicions were correct: Deliora was awake. Gray waded out into the water that was the only thing that remained of his beloved teacher. He looked down at the clear blue color, and you could see the pain and regret in his eyes. It was almost too depressing to watch, but I remained strong and waded out to join him. I also noticed Lyon crawling behind pitifully, barely able to move.

"None of you… are strong enough. But I am. I will defeat it! I'm going to surpass Ur…. Finally…." He then stared doing this strange weak laugh. It was kind of creepy, and I had to resist the urge to walk over to him and knock him unconscious. Was he really so stupid that he thought he could defeat that beast in his current state? "I've waited so long… for this moment…" He then got a look on his face, as though he was remembering something pleasant from his past. "She was strong, but still not strong enough to kill that demon." He got up on his feet and started to walk forward, but just barely. "I'm going to do what Ur never could. Finally… my dream… will be… fulfilled!"

He had a fiery determination in his heart, one that in some ways reminded me of my own, but he was also confused and distraught. He didn't know what to do, his dream was all he had ever wanted, and now that his master was gone he thought it was all he had to live for. I started to pity him right then, but then my brother knocked him back down. "You've caused enough trouble." He said, and started wading out into the water again. "I'll clean up the mess you've made." He then started to get into that position again, and I was too stunned to move. "I'll seal the demon myself! Iced Shell!"

"Don't do it Gray!" Lyon yelled. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to melt that ice!? Sealing it again isn't going to stop me, I will not rest until I have finally defeated Deliora!"

"I can't worry about the future! I have to do this to keep it from killing us all right now!" In that moment, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I know they say that only happens when you're an inch from death, but it happened. I experienced it all again, from the cold that first day in the snow, to the pain of my mother leaving me, to seeing my brother smile at me for the first time that day. I knew that I couldn't let him leave me, I could never go through the pain of losing someone I cared about ever again.

I walked up to him, and saw that Natsu had a similar idea to mine. He walked up in front of Gray, while I stood next to him and took the same position he had. "Iced Shell!" I called out, as cold strands of light enveloped me as well as my brother.

He was at first surprised to see Natsu walk in front of him, but as soon as he saw what I was doing he grew furious. "Natsu! Sapphire! What are you doing!?"

I looked over at him while still trying to concentrate on my spell. "I'm trying to show you how I feel in this position! I won't just sit back there and do nothing and risk losing you! If you're going down, then I'm going down with you!" I screamed at him, tears streaming down my face.

"Why don't you two let me handle this?" Natsu said, and for once I was grateful to him. He wouldn't let my brother die either, even though the two seemed to hate each other most of the time. "If I didn't let you do it before than why would I let you do it now? I'm not gonna let you go out like that! Go ahead and cast the spell, but I'm not movin'"

"Natsu… Sapphire…" All of a sudden the monster roared and sent his fist hurtling towards us. "Natsu!" Gray yelled at the top of his lungs, but Natsu just lit his fist on fire and let his fist collide with the monster's.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the monster started to crumble. Tiny cracks appeared everywhere, even on its tongue, and it started to completely come apart. "What the…" Natsu started to say. "I'm stronger than I thought."

"What? No way. It… it can't be…" I heard Lyon say from behind us. "Deliora… was already dead…" I gasped in realization. Now I understood. Deliora had died from being in that ice for so long, and now all Natsu needed to do was apply a little pressure and he would be destroyed. No one could survive in ice for that long, not even a ten-ton monster.

I looked back at Lyon. The look on his face… let's just say it almost made me burst into tears. He looked completely defeated, almost utterly defenseless, and it really made me feel for him. I know I shouldn't be feeling remorse for the guy that almost sent a killing machine back into civilization, but I couldn't help it; something inside just made me care about him.

"For ten years… Ur has gradually depleted the demon's life-force. And what we just saw… was nothing more than its last dying breaths. My dream is dead! There's no hope now! I will never surpass Ur!" This almost pushed me past my breaking point. I almost burst into tears, and the look on my brother's face wasn't helping. He was staring at nothing in particular, and you could tell he was remembering Ur. Soon tears were streaming down his face, and that finally broke me. I soon could feel the warmth of my own tears peeking out over my eyelids.

"You've saved my life again… Thank you Ur!" My brother said, as Lucy, Happy, and Erza showed up. I went over and helped my brother help Lyon out, after all he was still badly injured. Lyon looked so sad at that moment, so I gave him a little smile, which in a way was my way of telling him I forgave him. He looked a little surprised, and I swear I could see the smallest trace of a blush on his cheeks, but he still eventually returned it.

* * *

We were now sitting outside the temple. Lyon was with us, still angry that we spoiled his plans. Something was bugging me though. I said a while back that Ur's name sounded familiar, and now I knew I had heard it somewhere before. I was racking my brain, trying to remember where I had heard the name before. I thought and thought, and was about to give up, when it finally hit me. "I can't believe how stupid I've been!" I yelled, startling everyone around me.

Gray looked especially taken back by my statement. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I don't know if I ever told you this Gray, but the first time you told me Ur's name I thought it sounded familiar. I couldn't remember where I had heard it before, so I didn't think it was something important enough to bring up. But now I remember!" Gray looked utterly stunned by this, but then again Lyon didn't look much better. They were both to stunned to speak, wondering what else I knew about their master.

I walked over to Lyon. "If you still really want to, I know another way you can achieve your dream. You don't have to give up on it." Lyon became even more confused at this, but I could also tell he was curious as to what I was about to say. "You said you wanted to know where I learned Ice Make, right? Well I trained with my master on the northern continent. He was an old man who always loved to tell stories, and he once spoke about a previous student of his. He told me that she was the best student he had ever trained, and that she even surpassed his own level. He also told me that if I trained hard enough I might someday be able to reach her level, and that I might even surpass her, and he'd be able to tell me when I got there. I didn't even remember that conversation until now, but now I can even remember the name of his old student. It was Ur, and he knew her better than anyone. He could tell you if and when you've surpassed your master." I looked into Lyon's eyes and could tell he almost didn't believe me. He thought it was too good to be true, and I couldn't necessarily blame him. I almost didn't believe it myself.

"You were trained by Ur's master!?" My brother yelled, breaking the moment. "And you never even told me!?"

I sighed. I loved my brother, but he could be quite annoying sometimes. I turned to face him. "Yes Gray I was, and I would have told you if I had remembered. Master only ever brought it up once you know. It's not like I was purposefully keeping it secret." He still looked angry, but he set it aside for now. I could still tell we would talk about it more later. He wouldn't let me off that easily.

I turned back to Lyon. "One day I'll take you with me to meet him, but only when you get stronger. You're nowhere near Ur's level yet. Come to the guild sometime when you think you're ready, and we can go visit him, okay?" I smiled at him, hoping he'd say yes. He might have been trying to revive a demon, but in the end he was unsuccessful anyway. Honestly I thought he actually wasn't that bad a guy. He had just been confused and hurt, and thought that reviving Deliora was the only way to fulfill his dream. Now I was offering a much less stupid option of how to do that.

Lyon still looked surprised, but he regained his usual cold demeanor. "Alright, you've got yourself a deal." I offered my hand to help him up, and then my brother started to speak up.

"You know Lyon, you should find yourself a guild. You can meet so many interesting people and become stronger that way." I looked at Lyon, and saw that he would at least consider my brother's offer. He looked like the idea fascinated him, and it even looked like he wanted to do it, but you never know with him.

I gave him another little smile. "Well I guess we should get going now."

Then Erza pointed out that we still hadn't completed our S-Class quest, and we knew we had to return to the village. The others turned around and stated to walk away, but I held back a little longer. "Well Lyon, I'll see you soon I hope. Just know you're always welcome to the guild, as long as you don't try anything as dumb as reviving demons ever again." I smiled and offered my hand for him to shake, and after a moment's hesitation he took it.

"Thanks Sapphire, I won't forget that. I'll see you when I've improved." He smiled and started to walk away, but before he could I stopped him.

"You should come to this year's Fantasia Parade! It's in just a few months!"

He smiled back over his shoulder. "Maybe I will" He said, and this time he walked away for good.

After Erza proved that she was the only one of us worthy of an S-Class quest, we climbed onto her ship, happy to finally be heading home. I was still a little disappointed though. I didn't know why, but there was a feeling in my chest like I was leaving something important behind. Almost as if I was leaving something (or someone) I cared about. I pushed it down though, and instead I though about Lyon. I hoped I would see him again, and that he'd train hard enough and I'd get to introduce him to master. Then not only would I see Lyon again, but I'd also have an excuse to go see master. I missed him, and I didn't get the opportunity to see him that often.

"Ready to go back home?" my brother asked, breaking the silence.

I really wanted to go home, but I still felt weird about it. Some part of me wanted to stay on the island, I didn't know why, but I didn't think it was worth mentioning. "Yah. I miss home."

He looked at me. "Why did you offer to help him?"

I knew he meant Lyon, and although I tried to justify my actions, I really didn't know myself. My gut just told me I could trust him, and I had learned to trust my instincts. In the end I just told my brother "Because he deserves a chance at his dream. I don't think he was even that bad, he was just angry and confused. He thought his dream was all that mattered, and I'm helping him achieve it. The offer to come meet my master also stands for you if you want it Gray.

He smiled. "Maybe I'll take you up on that. I haven't been up north in years. It might be nice."

I smiled and looked out over the horizon. "Yah, maybe." I said dreamily. "Oh, and one more thing Gray."

He looked at me. "What?"

I smiled again. "Where are your clothes?"

He looked down. "Oh crap! Not again!"


	7. This Weird Feeling

Okay, so maybe a lot of other stuff happened after that, like Phantom Lord kidnapping Lucy and Natsu defeating Jellal at the tower of heaven and even Laxus's attempt at a hostile takeover, but those are some more things that don't really have to do with my story so I'll again set them aside. I'll start here instead.

"And Juvia is nice, and a great cook, and sweet, and good with children…" Juvia babbled on. Ever since she had found out I was Gray's sister she would not leave me alone. Everywhere I turned she was there, telling me how great she was and that she'd make the perfect girlfriend. I knew all she wanted from me was to talk her up to my brother, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I'm not in charge of my brother's life, he can make his own decisions as far as I was concerned.

"Hey Sapphire, can you come here for a minute?" I heard Mira ask. I bolted out of my chair, happy to have an excuse to get away from Juvia for a while. I walked over to where she was standing and saw that she had drawn a diagram of the dark guild system in light pen.

Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Erza also came over and Mira started explaining the whole thing to Lucy. I wasn't really paying attention though; after all I already knew the system. When you live in a guild long enough you start to pick things up, and the dark guild system was one of them.

Out of nowhere Gramps came into the room and started talking. "Speaking of the Oracion Seis, word has come down. We must destroy them." He said solemnly.

"What?" Everyone else seemed to say at once.

"Welcome back master!" Mirajane said, ruining the mood. "I hope you had a good time at the conference!"

"But Master, what do you mean by that?" Erza asked.

"The Oracion Seis's recent activity was the focus of much discussion at the conference. They pose an urgent threat that can no longer be ignored. Therefore they must be dealt with immediately. We will take them down before they can attack harm any of our fellow guilds we are sworn t protect. This enemy is far more powerful than any other we have faced before. To fight them alone would be to dangerous. Our attack would surely incur the wrath of the entire Balam Alliance in no time. Which is why Fairy Tail will join a coalition of magical guilds! Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cait Shelter, these four guilds will select members to represent them in the allied force. Together we will work to bring down the enemy!"

All of a sudden Natsu decided to but in. "But we can handle them ourselves gramps! In fact, I could probably even do it alone."

"Don't be a fool!" Erza said, hitting Natsu. "The master is wise to consider the long term consequences."

"Woah," Lucy said, joining the conversation. "Just hold on a second you guys. We're only talking about six people, aren't we? I mean are they seriously all that scary?"

Then Master went on to explain that there were incredibly powerful, and that he chose our team to go out on this mission. I was surprised to have been chosen, but I guess it did make sense to just send out our strongest team. We already work well together (if you exclude my brother and Natsu) and we all are pretty powerful mages. I guess now that I think about it it made a lot of sense to send all of us, even though the group did seem a little large. Well I guess when facing a powerful enemy, the more the better.

* * *

My brother and I went home to pack after that, but on the way to our apartment I started getting that strange feeling in my gut again. At first I was confused, but I eventually recognized it as the feeling I had gotten on Galuna Island. Back then I had assumed I got the feeling because of Deliora, but we had already defeated that beast. It couldn't be that demon again, could it?

I shook it off and continued to pack, but I must have looked suspicious because my brother asked "Hey, you okay? Is somthin' bothering you?"

I shook my head no, but I could tell he didn't believe me, and the look on his face told me he wouldn't just let this go. "I was just thinking." I said vaguely. I hadn't told him about the feeling on Galuna, and something told me not to tell my brother now. I don't know why, but something about this sensation made me feel… guilty.

"About what?" he asked, still curious.

I tried to think of something I could say to get him off my back, and it finally came to me. "Just about the Oración Seis. I mean, Gramps is sending out five of us, six if you include happy. They have to be pretty powerful if master needs to send all of us." I lied, trying to sound as convincing as I could. I was usually pretty good with lying, but if anyone could ever tell it was Gray. He was actually the only person that had ever caught me lying, well except Thalassakonta.

A look of understanding came across his face, and I knew I had succeeded. It did make me feel guilty, but not as guilty as my gut feeling did. "Yah I know. You'd think Erza could take care of them on her own, but I guess Gramps thinks he needs to send all of us."

"I wonder what it will be like." I said, starting to daydream again.

Gray looked at me quizzically. "Wonder what what will be like exactly?"

I looked over to him. "You know, working with other guilds. I've never actually met any guild mages outside of Fairy Tail before. I wonder what they'll be like…" At that moment I felt another pang in my gut, and I knew that I was about to have a very interesting experience.

* * *

"There it is! The rendezvous spot!" I heard Happy exclaim from the driver's seat. I honestly wasn't paying much attention to the rest of the conversation during the ride, all I could focus on was that weird feeling. It still wouldn't go away, no matter how hard I tied to make it.

It was all I could think about, I had even started to lose sleep over it. It was consuming my mind. I had no idea why, but it made me excited, nervous, and intrigued all at the same time. In some ways I couldn't wait to find out why this feeling was so important to me, but I also was nervous to discover why it made me feel so guilty.

We soon entered the huge white mansion, and the others continued their conversation, but I still wasn't listening. I was still lost in thought, or at least I was until I heard three voices.

"Yes, they're here at last! At last! Hey, hey hey, hey! Hello! Hello! Fairy! Fairy! Tail! Tail! Wizards! We're so glad you came!" Was there an echo in here, or were these guys just retarded? I swear, I was pretty sure that these were going to be some pretty annoying people.

"We are," Said the first one, who was tall with dark blonde hair.

"the Blue Pegasus," Said the second one, who was short and blonde.

"Elite Crew." Said the third, who was tall and had dark brown hair.

"The Trimens!" They all said simultaneously.

"Hundred Night Hibiki" Said the first one.

"Holy Night Eve" Said the second.

"Still Night Ren" Said the third.

Then Lucy started fangirling, and then started babbling about useless information she found in Sorcerer Weekly. I honestly couldn't care less, these three were obviously just flirts. They even seemed worse than Loke used to be. Soon my suspicions were confirmed when they started flirting with Erza, then Lucy, and then finally Hibiki tried to flirt with me, and Gray was literally about to kill him.

"Keep your filthy hands off my sister!" He yelled, and I sighed.

I pushed Hibiki away and said "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm sorry, but I just don't go for flirts, they aren't my type." I walked over to my brother. "Calm down Gray, I can handle myself.

"I still don't like him." He growled.

All of a sudden we heard another voice coming from upstairs, but this one sent chills up my spine. "Calm down men, give these ladies some breathing room." It said, and I looked over at Erza, who looked utterly terrified. What kind of person could do that to Erza? "It's been far too long, Miss Scarlet."

Erza then stuttered nervously "A-a long time, yes. I never expected to see you here."

I looked up at the man she was refereeing to, and I could see why he terrified Erza. He was seriously creepy. He then called Erza his "sweet honey" and Erza stated shuddering uncontrollably. The man, who the Trimens called Ichiya, started sliding down the banister and started posing. The Trimens apologized, saying they didn't know Erza was his girlfriend, and so Erza started screaming. Ichiya then yelled at the Trimens who started running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Ichiya then started saying "It seems as though destiny has brought us together, Miss Erza, Miss Lucy, Miss Sapphire, and you two not so much" He pointed to each of us in turn, ending on the two boys. He then started sniffing each of us, complementing our "parfumes" or something like that, and Gray and Natsu started fighting with the Trimens. Ichiya continued to sniff us until Erza finally punched him. Ichiya ended up flying across the room, until finally he hit something. Ice started to cover him, which confused me at first, since it wasn't me or Gray who had cast Ice Make.

The person was standing in the shadows, so I couldn't see his face, but he soon said "You dare to greet us with this flying buffoon?" And suddenly that feeling in my stomach made my heart skip a beat. I knew that voice. How could I know that voice? "Lamia Scale deserves more respect. We insist on it." At that moment he raised his face up into the light, and again my heat skipped a bet. It was… It was…

"Lyon…" I said under my breath, as Lyon and my brother stared each other down.


	8. A Surprisingly Pleasant Conversation

Hello to all of my follwers. I must apologize, it has been far, far too long since my last update. I have been going through a lot lately, everything from school to friend drama to heartache, and I have not found it in myself to write another chapter. However, recently I have been going a lot more steady and I'm again finding the motivation I so sorely lacked for all this time. I will finally be writing new chapters, and if all goes well I will hopefully provide an update for you every two weeks. I do have two new chapters for you right now, so hopefully that makes up for some of it.

Thanks for all of your support, and if you have any comments, suggestions, compliments, criticisms, or any other type of constructive feedback, feel free to leave it in the comments below and I'll reply at my earliest convenience. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

At that moment I made the connection: Lyon had joined Lamia Scale.

I was actually surprised he had taken our advice. After all, we had shattered the plan that he had worked on for years after his master's death.

"You" My brother said shocked, and Lyon soon repeated this simple phrase.I mentally facepalmed. My brother had a million things he could say, and 'you' is the only word that came to his mind. Sometimes my brother is such an idiot.

"So you went and joined a guild after all!" Natsu said, and for once I appreciated his comment more than I did my brother's.

I shrugged off my surprise and smiled. "I'm actually surprised you took our advice, Lyon." He looked over at me, and this time it was his turn to be surprised.

"Sapphire," He said. "You came here too? Just how many people does your guild need?"

My smile faded. "Well our master just sent out his strongest team, and even if he didn't choose me I still would have gone. You shouldn't expect me to let my brother have all the fun now should you?"

Lyon was about to make another comment, but soon the rug underneath him started to move on its own and attacked Lucy. Then lover-girl came in and Lucy started yelling at her. Gray and Lyon went back to their stare down, and I sighed. My guild mates could be so childish at times. I was about to go and break my brother and Lyon up before a booming voice thundered through the room. "Enough! We're here to work together as a group to destroy the Oracion Seis. This is not the time for us to fight among ourselves!"

I looked over. And standing in the doorway was the world-renowned Iron Rock Jura. I had read about him before in a book written about the ten wizard saints and had greatly admired him ever since. "Yes Jura." I heard Lyon say, and I respected him even more if he could tame Lyon.

"So five from Fairy Tail and four from Blue Pegasus? Ha, funny. _Our_ _guild_ only needed to send _three_ members." Sherry said condescendingly.

I was about ready to slap her, and I could tell the rest of our guild members weren't exactly thrilled by her comment either. Lucy was fuming and Happy was crying since she didn't include him in the headcount. Sherry was really starting to get on my nerves.

"It seems we have representatives from three guilds." Jura said, either ignoring or not noticing the immaturity of his comrades. "The members from Cait Shelter have yet to arrive."

Ichiya nodded from his place upon Erza's spear. "Yes and about that guild, I heard they're only sending one."

That made me worry a bit. If Lamia Scale had thought it necessary to send more members along with Jura, than how strong would this solo-member be? Why send only one member anyway?

"That's insane! We're supposed to be up against a powerful group here!" Gray yelled, and I nodded in agreement to my brother's shock.

"How can they send only one member? I mean even Lamia Scale sent three and they have one of the Wizard Saints!" I pointed out, although from the look on Lyon's face this hurt him a little. I started to mentally slap myself for being so rude, but then stopped. Why exactly did I care?

"Only one?" Lucy said, fear obvious in her voice. "If that's true, how crazy intense is this guy gonna be?"

We stared at each other, but then a split second later we heard someone behind us give a yelp and then thud against the ground. We turned, only to see a little girl with long blue hair laying face-down on the carpet. She soon pulled herself up, and I could see she was very young, no older than eleven or twelve. "Hi, I uh…" She said, and I could tell the poor girl was nervous. "I'm sorry I got here so late. I've come from the Cait Shelter guild. My name's Wendy Marvell, it's nice to meet all of you!"

I looked her up and down, and for a moment I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How could a guild send a member so young to fight such a powerful and dangerous enemy? Were they crazy?

I looked over at Erza, thinking that if anyone would take lead and raise a hand against letting this child fight it would be her, but instead I could see a smile starting to form on her lips.

"Now then since all guilds are present we can begin." Jura said, and if even the great Jura accepted this girl then she surely must have some potential. I looked back over to her, trying to get a feel for her strength. Sure on the outside she didn't look like much, but if I've learned anything on my travels it was that looks can be deceiving.

That was when I smelled it. I knew the scent but I couldn't put my finger on how. I racked my brain, trying to put a name or a place or anything to that familiar scent, but I couldn't do it. Just then I happened to glance over at Natsu, and it suddenly clicked. It was the same scent I had picked up when I had first met him, and then again when I had met Gajeel, but no it couldn't be…. "She's a dragon slayer…." I whispered, and Gray looked over at me like I was nuts.

"You say something?" He asked, but I just shook my head.

"No, nothing at all." I lied. I didn't want to start telling everyone that this little girl was a dragon slayer only to be proven wrong. After her there came a little talking white cat, just like happy, whose name was apparently Carla, which made me believe all that much more that little Wendy was a dragon slayer.

Ichiya and Hibiki soon started to tell us the plan, and although it was important, i couldn't focus. I kept staring at Wendy, wondering if I was right about her magic. It was killing me, and the weird feeling in my gut didn't exactly help either.

Then I heard the words "First up is the snake wizard Cobra." And that was all it took. I immediately felt chills up my spine, and it took all the self-control I possessed to keep from screaming. I looked at the picture of Cobra, and I swear my eyes were about to pop out of my head. "Look at the size of th-that snake…" I whispered to myself, but luckily none of the other people (or cats) present heard me. Hibiki then showed pictures of the other guild members, but I couldn't get the image of that huge purple serpent out of my head.

* * *

We headed out soon after that, and I was forced to stop thinking about Cobra and his humongous snake. I was looking forward to finally finding these guys and taking them down. When it came to Cobra I was just gonna have to suck it up and fight him alongside my teammates. After all the defeat of him and his fellow guild mates would mean my return to my little apartment that I shared with Gray in Magnolia and the end of working with all these idiots. I don't know why, but several of my supposed "companions" on this trip really got on my nerves, Sherry and everyone from Blue Pegasus especially. Maybe the entire reason we had to work in teams was so we could have a reason to get this job over and done quickly because we'd get fed up with our teammates.

The only thing I was actually looking forward to on the trip to the North Wood Sea was getting the chance to talk with Wendy and that cat of hers. I really wanted to know if I was right about Wendy being a dragon slayer. The uncertainty was killing me.

I was about to approach her and ask her what type of magic she uses, but a rather unexpected someone stopped me. "So Sapphire, is your team really the most powerful in your guild?" I heard a low smooth voice say from beside me. I turned, only to see the last person I'd ever expect to be talking to me: Lyon.

I was surprised to say the least, but I still responded. "Actually as a team we probably are. I mean the strongest team in Fairy Tail was probably the Raijinshu, but now they're out of commission so as a team we probably are the most powerful, although Gildarts is probably stronger than all of our teammates combined."

He smiled, and I had to stop myself from blushing. What on Earth was wrong with me? "Gildarts hm? I think I've heard of him. Is he really all that powerful? I mean he can't be as strong as Jura or he'd be a wizard saint right?"

I thought about that. "Well he is a rather private person and he doesn't like attention, so maybe he just doesn't like being recognized for his power. I don't know if he is as strong as Jura, but I know I wouldn't want to be on his bad side. Then I'd really be in trouble." I laughed to myself, and I found Lyon smiling a little wider.

"Really? Well maybe one day I'll receive the pleasure of meeting him and seeing if he really is that strong. I would love the chance to challenge him someday." He started staring off into space, and my smile faded.

I shook my head. "That would be suicide. I've seen Gildart's power first hand, and he could crush Natsu flat with only his pinky. I would never challenge him to a serious fight if I valued my life."

Lyon looked a little surprised. "Really? Well it may be a while but one day I'll be that powerful too, and I'll even surpass Ur's level. When that day comes I'll challenge him. Until that day though, who would you say is the next most-powerful mage in your guild? Maybe I'll challenge them instead." He looked at me, and that strange sensation in my gut returned with a vengeance.

I did my best to push it down, though it was slowly becoming more difficult to do so, and I replied "Well there's Mystogan, but he's hardly ever around and even when he is he puts everyone around him to sleep, so I wouldn't get my hopes up about challenging him. Then there was Laxus, but he is no longer a part of our guild. So then I'd say that either Erza or Mirajane would be your best bet."

He looked slightly shocked, or maybe confused. I couldn't think straight anymore. "Mirajane? You mean that bikini model for Sorcerer's Weekly? You cannot be saying that that girl is as powerful as Erza."

Ah, so that was it then. I wasn't surprised, most people were surprised when they found out Mira was S Class, not to mention about as powerful as Erza. "Yah, she can be really scary when she wants to be, but as long as you don't get her mad she's the sweetest and most tolerant person I've ever met." I smiled. "She's actually a really good friend of mine. Well so is Erza for that matter."

"Sounds as though you have friends in high places." He said, sounding slightly impressed.

"I guess you could put it like that." I smiled. "So you've only been in Lamia Scale a few months and you're already one of their top members? That's pretty impressive." I said to continue our conversation.

He smiled at my compliment. "Yah, well I am strong you know. Don't seem so surprised." He said cockily.

I smiled back. "Yah, so strong you got beaten by my brother." I teased. He looked a little hurt by this at first, but I think he eventually understood that I was only teasing.

"Well one day I'll be able to defeat him too." He told me. "But anyway I actually am grateful for your advice. Joining the guild has been good for training and getting stronger. If I keep advancing at this rate then soon I'll be able to take you up on your offer to meet your old master."

Okay, I have to admit I was never expecting that. Lyon was thanking me? That was the last thing I had ever thought he would do. "Well then I'll be looking forward to your visit to our guild."

"As will I." He said, his smooth voice making my heart skip another few beats. Why did he do this to me? Why does knowing he's looking forward to seeing me again after we're done here make me feel like I'm walking on air? "So what is life in Fairy Tail like? If all of its members are like Natsu and Gray I assume it must be quite a chaotic place."

I laughed. "Oh you've definitely got that right! Although believe me we're probably even crazier than you think." I smiled, drifting off into my memories. "There are loud and rambunctious guild fights almost every day, and people are always giving each other a hard time. There's never a moment's peace, and even when there's no fighting it's filled with everyone's loud voices and the sound of people drinking and laughing, and usually Cana is drunk, passed out, and snoring by the bar While Gray and Natsu are bickering and Erza's trying to keep them under control. And even though we always fight and scream and yell we all really do care about one another. The Fairy Tail guild always has been and always will be like one great big family filled with the kindest and craziest people you've ever met. and it always feels like home." I smiled, picturing the all-too-familiar guild hall and everyone in it. Then I realized something: I was rambling again. "Oh I'm so sorry if I went on too long. I tend to do that sometimes… It's become a really bad habit."

He smiled wider "Oh it's fine, you don't need to apologize." I looked over at him, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight, and his hair falling perfectly over his brow. I knew from the first moment I had seen him that he was hot, but this was the first time I got to study him up close. As he looked in my eyes and I looked into his, I felt that I never wanted to turn away. I wanted to slap myself for it, after all he was my brother's rival and the lunatic who had tried to revive Deliora a few months ago, but I couldn't help it. He was just too…. _perfect_.

Soon enough our "moment" (if I dare call it that) was interrupted by Sherry's voice. "Lyon look!" She said, pointing up.

We both looked up, only to see a gigantic airship flying overhead. "I see it." Lyon said, and I stared at it in awe. It looked like a giant blue and gold horse flying through the sky. The thing was monstrous, although the paint job was a little too flashy for my taste. It was still incredibly impressive however, even if it was a bit goddy.

"It's the magic bomber, Christina!" Erza exclaimed, sounding just as impressed as I was.

"I want one!" Natsu yelled excitedly.

I facepalmed. "Natsu, if you ever get one of those the entire world will end up being destroyed." I said, shaking my head. "It's probably better for all of our sakes that you don't have one."

"It definitely lives up to the hype!" My brother said, and I had to agree, it was rather impressive.

"That's so cool." Lucy said admiringly.

"Horses can fly too?" Said a confused Happy.

Carla humphed. "Please refrain from opening your mouth again."

"Alright, let's split up and start searching for their temporary base." Erza said as matter-of-factly as usual.

"I'm flying the bomber thing!" Natsu screamed, which was followed by me and my brother's simultaneous "Not happenen'."

I was about to volunteer to join up with my brother, but soon a thunderous boom was heard echoing throughout the forest. I looked back up at Christina and saw that it was smoking and starting to steadily plummet towards the ground below. "What happened to Christina?" I heard one of the tri-playboys say from behind us, and I had to agree. What in Earthland had happened? When the magic bomber hit the ground there was an explosion so immensely powerful that it shook the ground we were standing on, causing shock and panic in us all.

"This doesn't bode well." Lyon said from beside me, sounding alarmed and maybe even slightly afraid.

I sniffed the air, and noticed Natsu was doing the same. I smelled six separate and distinct scents, and I knew we were about to meet our foes.

"Gray," Natsu said.

"I know," My brother said cooly. "we've got company." he then shouted back to the rest of us "Everyone stay frosty!"

This again caused me to mentally facepalm, but I'd make fun of his horrible pun later. Right now I had better things to worry about than my brother's bad sense of humor, because through the smoke and embers flying off from Christina's impact there were six distinct humanoid shapes.

First I saw a large man with white hair and strange tattoos on his dark-skinned face who carried a strange skull staff. Then I saw a blonde guy with glasses and a mohawk who wore glasses and a red tracksuit. Next was a fat guy with a strange blocky face who wore robes that resembled a priest's garments and carried a book. After him I saw a girl with short white hair who wore a much-too-revealing white feathery dress. There was also a strange guy with beads in his skunk-like hair who appeared to be sleeping atop what seemed to be a flying carpet.

Then I saw him. He himself didn't especially scare me, he was only a man in a white coat and black shirt with spiky hair and a scar across his face. He was no more intimidating than the rest of his compatriots, but what scared me was what encircled him. "I-it's even b-bigger in p-person…" I said, staring into the eyes of the enormous violet snake standing not twenty feet in front of me.


	9. Why do I Trust Him?

I was frozen. I could no longer feel anything, the only thing I knew at that moment was the sense of paralyzing fear coursing through my veins. I could feel Lyon's eyes on me, but at that moment I didn't care, my only thought was the one that every instinct in my brain was screaming at me: run.

I couldn't though. My brother, all my friends, I couldn't just let them face these creeps alone. I tried to move, to work past the paralysis that snake's gaze had instilled in me, but it was to no avail. I could not move.

The Seis were talking, each of the six got their turn to say something, but I couldn't focus enough to understand a single word. I was still frozen solid. Soon I saw my brother and Natsu charge forward to face the Oracion Seis, but they were quickly dealt with by the guy with a mohawk.

The battle soon turned to an all out melee, and as soon as Cobra ran in an opposing direction I snapped back into focus. I ran forward, trying to land a hit on whichever member I could. At first I targeted Hoteye, but I soon moved on to Angel and those two creepy blue things that could change into people. I was about to blast their copy of my brother, but before I could I felt a powerful force hit my side. I gasped in pain as I flew back, hearing mohawk guy saying something about me being too slow.

I stumbled back several feet after the impact and was about to get up, until I saw that I had landed not ten feet away from Cobra. I shuddered, and, almost as if he had heard me, He turned to look at me, and This time I came eye to eye with that giant purple serpent.

Erza was fighting him at the time, but he was avoiding her attacks even without having to look at her. "So what do we have here?" He said, although I wasn't looking at him. I was again petrified, staring into the eyes of the snake. "Let's see…" I could almost hear him speak. "Ah, an ophidiophobe I see. Well today must be my lucky day."

I was stunned. How could this guy know? I had never told anyone before, not even my brother. How could he know? Suddenly I saw the Mohawk guy coming for me, but before he could reach me I heard "Leave her Racer, this one's mine."

"Racer" turned and went the other way, but I wasn't focused on that. All I could see was the enormous purple snake coming closer and closer. I heard Erza yell from behind me "Sapphire, run!" But I couldn't move. I was too terrified.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact that snake would bring, but it never came. Instead I heard a yelp of pain from in front of me, and my eyelids burst open just in time to see a red-headed body collapsing to the ground, her arm starting to turn purple.

I felt so guilty. If I had only moved or fought back or done anything at all, She wouldn't have fallen. Without me there, Erza, one of my best friends, wouldn't have been bitten by the world's largest snake. I heard Cobra laughing, but I dared not look. If I looked then I would be frozen again, and I couldn't allow that, not with Erza lying here in pain in front of me. I knew I had to get her out, to get her away from this mad man and his serpent, so I grabbed her as quickly as I could, turned, and ran.

I took Erza behind a rock formation and took a good look at her arm. It was a bright purple, and the color was slowly spreading throughout her arm. I felt so incredibly guilty that I had let this happen to her. I started to feel tears form, but i quickly wiped them away. "Erza… I am so sorry!" I said, still trying to hold back the tears.

She winced a little, but she was still able to give me a weak smile. "It's not your fault Sapphire."

That made me feel even worse. I crumpled down to the floor, feeling utterly defeated. "Yes it was. If I had only done somthing… I could have stopped it. But I didn't. It's my fault this happened."

I was unable to say anymore after that though, because soon I felt a strange sensation that again locked me in place. This time though it was a spell that the leader of the Oracion Seis was casting. I sat there, waiting for him to cast the spell, but eventually the magic subsided, and the Oracion Seis left, taking Wendy along with them.

* * *

I panted as I ran, trying to keep up behind Lyon. He didn't realize I was following him as he led Racer on, but I was close behind. I knew the plan he and my brother were using didn't involve me, but I knew I needed to be there for backup.

A lot had happened after Erza had gotten bitten. We had all split into groups to try and find Wendy, and Lucy stayed behind with Hibiki to watch over Erza. I went with my brother and Natsu, and we ended up finding Wendy, but we were met with quite a surprise.

Earlier that year we had learned that Erza had been a slave at a place called the Tower of Heaven when she was growing up, and we were forced to battle her psycho old best friend Jellal, and the tower blew up, making us all think that the blue haired lunatic was dead. Well guess what: He wasn't. He's still alive, and apparently Wendy was a dragon slayer like I had thought, and she had the power to heal people, including Jellal. Yeah, crazy day.

After Jellal ran out we had grabbed Wendy and made our escape, but outside we were met by that fast freak: Racer. My brother and I decided to fight him while Natsu ran back to camp with our young blue-haired dragon slayer, and we fought the guy. To make a long story short, let's just say the battle involved tires, motorcycles, and SE-plugs. We eventually ran into Lyon, who had helped us attempt to land a hit on Racer before he realized it was pointless and came up with a really ingenious plan. For the idiot who had believed reviving a demon was a good idea, he was surprisingly intelligent.

That's how I got here. Lyon was bating Racer to get Gray out of the range of his magic, while Gray was preparing to fire a giant ice-arrow from on top of a large ice-pillar. I watched as my brother flawlessly hit his target, defeating speedy once and for all.

Gray then came over to us, looking a little worse for wear, but Lyon was completely black and blue. He looked totally worn, and I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him. After all, he had just risked his life to save ours.

We started a casual conversation, but soon Racer stood up, screaming. "I've got you now!" He ripped open his jacket, revealing a large device strapped to his chest. "In the name of the mighty Oracion Seis, I'm taking you to the big slab in the sky!" The lights on the machine started flashing on, and I immediately knew that it was no ordinary piece of metal strapped to his chest. It was a bomb.

"Is that what I think it is?" Lyon said, afraid.

Sherry replied "He's rigged himself with a bomb lacrima!"

"Seriously? Is he insane?" My brother asked, confused a little.

"We'll cross the finish line together!" Racer yelled as the bomb ticked down more and more.

"No way." My brother said, getting into his Ice-Make form, but he was completely out of magic energy.

I knew we were screwed if I stood back and did nothing, so I acted on my only impulse. I ran at Racer, and threw all my weight into a full-on tackle. Apparently Lyon had the exact same idea, as we both started to plummet off the cliff, both praying for our very lives.

* * *

Lyon had successfully defused the bomb, thank god, and by some miracle we had both survived the landing. Now we were trapped down here, and certain people probably think that we're dead. Must be Tuesday.

Now we were awkwardly sitting together, both exhausted from the previous battle. Racer was knocked unconscious.

"So…" I said, trying to think of a conversation starter to break the awkward silence. "What made you decide on Lamia Scale?"

He looked at me, probably wondering why I was asking such a random question. "Well it seemed like the most powerful guild, other than Fairy Tail of course." He looked at me, and I could make out the tiniest trace of a smile on his lips.

"Yah well Fairy Tail's pretty great, but I'm sure Lamia Scale is too." I said, trying to continue the conversation.

He returned my comment with a question. "How did you end up joining the Fairy Tail guild anyway? When I knew Gray, he said his parents and village had been destroyed, but even then he had never mentioned a sister."

I looked into his eyes, and at first I didn't want to answer, but something about him made me know I could trust him. Crazy right? "Well until about two years ago, neither of us knew we had a twin out there." He raised an eyebrow, curious to know more, so I told him. "Well when I was about a day old, I was kidnapped from my family. I still don't know who had done it, but all I remember is being out in the cold.

"I really don't know how, but I remember the day my foster mother found me. I was only a day old, but I remember it somehow. She found me alone, crying in a snowbank with nothing but a blanket embroidered with my name keeping me from the cold, and she took me in. She taught me so much, including my Dragon Slayer magic. She was great, and for years we were happy, but she disappeared when I was ten years old. I searched for her for days, but I could never find her.

I smiled, remembering the warm and kind glow Thalassakonta gave off. She was amazing, the best mother anyone could ever ask for, but now she was gone. "After that I wandered through the woods for days, eating only tasteless roots and berries. Soon though I ran into a town, and that's where master found me and took me in. He was kind and sweet and gentle, and never pushed me as hard as my mother had. He let me go at my own pace when I was learning Ice-Make, unlike how strict and hard Thalassakonta was."

"Thalassakonta? Who's she?" He asked, confused.

I realized that this was the first time I had mentioned my mother's name. "Oh yeah, that was my mother's name. Thalassakonta the Water Dragon."

This time he was shocked, as l had grown accustomed to when I told people my mother was a dragon. "She was actually a dragon?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, and so was Natsu's father Igneel. He was a fire dragon, and Gajeel Redfox's father Metalicana, the iron dragon. We're first generation dragon slayers, meaning we were raised by dragons." He still looked a little confused, but I continued talking anyway. "Then after about five years of training with master I was in a shop that had just gotten a bunch of Sorcerer's Weekly magazines imported from Fiore, and The Fairy Tail guild was profiled in one of them. I noticed that there was a profile of several of the mages in the guild, and one had a birthday that was the day before my mother found me, he was from the northern continent, and he had the same last name as me, so I went to Fiore and ended up joining the guild. That's pretty much my life, and I'm sorry if I went on too long, it's a force of habit." I hated how I could never just sum it up, I always went on way too long. I knew a lot of people that found this habit annoying, but I couldn't help it. I've always been like this.

He smiled at me. "It's fine, I don't mind hearing you talk."

That made my cheeks heat up, and when he realized what he had said I think I saw the faintest trace of pink in his face. We sat there, staring at each other for a while, the awkward silence starting to return, but this time it was a little more… _comfortable._

Eventually he moved, and then he started to speak again. "There's one more thing I want to ask you."

I was surprised to say the least, I mean why did he care so much about me? I still answered him though. "Ask away."

He looked at me, and by the look in his eyes I could tell he was serious. "When we first ran into these idiots, I heard you say something strange about Cobra's snake. Then I looked over at you, and you looked frozen, like you couldn't move. What was that all about?"

I stayed silent for a long time. I didn't know what to say. I had never admitted it to anyone, not Master, Gray or even Thalassakonta, although I know that she knew without me saying anything. I trusted those three more than anyone, but I was still unable to say anything. Why was it that I wanted to tell this boy that I hardly knew?

After a long silence he sighed. "Look, you don't have to tell me if…" But I cut him off.

"I'm ophidiophobic." I said, surprising even myself. My brain was screaming at me not to say anything, to keep that secret hidden inside, but it was like my mouth didn't want to listen, like it had spoken on its own.

He looked confused. "You're what?" he asked me, obviously not knowing what that meant. I wasn't surprised, most people don't know the technical term for my type of phobia, so him not knowing is to be expected.

"Ophidiophobic." I said, knowing it was too late to turn back now. "It means I have a fear of snakes." He looked at me, looking like he hadn't expected that to come out of my mouth, so I decided to explain. "It was back when I was training with Thalassakonta. I was out in the woods one day, training, when I accidentally stepped on a venomous snake's tail. It bit me, and I was in pain for days. Without my mother around I probably would have died, but she knew what herbs to use to heal the venom of that particular snake. After that I was fascinated by creatures that could do so much with a single bite, but I could never stand to be around them. They're just too…" I shuddered, and I think he got the message.

He looked at me sympathetically, and I was again surprised by his obvious kindness towards me. When I had first met him he seemed psychotic, but now he was showing me a totally different side of himself. It was just so… _weird._

That was when I realized something; he was showing a whole new side to himself, but I could probably could say the same about me. I had never told anyone these things I had been telling him, well excepting the part about master and Thalassakonta. I had at least told my brother all that. But now this boy, which I hardly knew, was getting it all out of me in no time flat. What was wrong with me?

I shook past my confusion and knew I had to continue the conversation, so I asked "Well now you know my entire life story, so what about you? What happened to you, at least before you met Ur."

He looked at me hesitantly, but I think he knew that he owed me at least that much. He started staring off into space, and I could tell he was remembering something that had happened long ago. "Well not much really, I can't tell you I was raised by a dragon or anything exciting like that. My childhood was rather dull, quite frankly. I was an orphan, living with a lot of other kids in this cramped old house. The people were kind and caring, and they did whatever they could to help us. It wasn't too horrible, but there was never quite enough to eat or drink.

"Back then I was stubborn and determined, and I knew that one day I wanted to be the strongest mage in existence. I wanted to always have enough, to never go without a meal or have to struggle to find an empty space to sleep, so I set out in search of a master who could train me to reach my goals. I found Ur, and I swore I would never give up until I could surpass her. I convinced myself that only then would I achieve my dream of power. I know now that I was wrong to believe that, but I still carry that dream, and one day it will become reality."

I was surprised, and immediately a wave of sadness washed over me. I got it now. I understood why he was so desperate to surpass his master, and the weird thing was, I _knew_ that I would have done the same if I had been in his shoes. I can't say how I knew, but there was no doubt in my mind that if I had been raised that way, If I had endured what he had, I would have been just as stubborn and stupid as he had been when trying to revive Deliora.

"I'm sorry…" I said, not being able to think of anything better to say. "I had no idea. But you should know that I've never met my parents either. I know how you feel." I tried to comfort him, trying desperately to show the sincerity I felt. I looked at him and gave a slight smile, trying to say 'it's alright', without having to actually say anything. He smiled back at me, his cool blue eyes staring into mine. They were beautiful, filled with kindness and sparkling with a fiery determination that so reminded me of my own. Looking into them I could tell he had understood my message, and that it may have helped, at least slightly.

We stayed that way, staring at each other, for quite some time, and this time the silence that passed between us was comforting, as though nothing could go wrong in that moment.

Suddenly my chest started throbbing, although it was strangely pleasant. I felt so comforted and amazing with him, like I could tell him anything and he wouldn't judge. I felt I could be myself around him, but why? Why did I feel so comfortable around him? Why did I trust him so quickly, when my trust was usually so hard to earn?


End file.
